In a wireless communications network when a base station faces some problems, e.g. power module failure, transmission failure, hanging radio-links etc, status information can be found on the network monitoring display. Then, alarms are raised to indicate the problem. In solutions known in the art the base station continues to emit a signal with the same power, encouraging existing traffic within its domain to continue to attempt access in each of its cells. Usually, an operator checks the monitoring continuously and resolution work is executed by sending technicians to the base station site. Moreover, until the problem is repaired, the radio coverage of a particular area is not optimal.
There are several scenarios in which such failures manifest resulting in network disturbances such as reduced accessibility and increased drop rates. For example it happens sometimes that during network upgrade base stations lose connectivity with the RNC and each such instance requires a site visit. This requires an on-site team to be on standby for each predicted failure, incurring a manpower limitation on the total number of upgrades that can be attempted during a maintenance window.
A network operator requests correction work to be carried out by field engineers when a network failure is indicated by the network management system. The drawback of the existing solutions is that they require immediate site visit, which are expensive and increase OPEX (Operational expenditure). Also, since the identification of the problem is human dependent, this incurs a period of diagnosis and a delay during which the on-site team is being deployed. There is no recommended sequence of activities that should be executed either manually or automatically to minimize the network disturbance.